Apparatus for forcing compressed air, water, etc., over belt-fed articles



2,719,529 OVER Oct. 4, 1955 H. D. WELLS APPARATUS FOR FORCING COMPRESSEDAIR, WATER, ETC,

BELT-FED ARTICLES 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed April 24, 1955 5o 1 INVENTOR.

#AELAND WELLS Oct. 4, 1955 H. D. WELLS 2,719,529

APPARATUS FOR FORCING COMPRESSED AIR, WATER, ETC, OVER BELT-FED ARTICLESFiled April 24, 1953 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 @L w) a6 86/" i 5 INVENTOR.

A/AELAND WELLS United States Patent APPARATUS FOR FORCING COMPRESSEDAIR, WATER, ET C., OVER BELT-FED ARTICLES Harland D. Wells, Del Norte,Colo.

Application April 24, 1953, Serial No. 350,981

2 Claims. (Cl. 134-144) This invention relates to a machine wherebyarticles fed therethrough upon a conveyor belt or equivalent means willbe subjected to a flow of compressed air or the like.

It is proposed that the apparatus be so designed as to permit it to beused to advantage in cleaning and drying vegetables and garden produce,particularly by the use of air only. However, the apparatus, as will beappreciated, has general utility, since the jets of pressure fluid, suchas. compressed air, directed upon the belt-fed articles, can be utilizedin spray-painting the articles, sand-blasting, washing, and in otherconditioning steps.

The main object of the present invention is to provide a generallyimproved apparatus of the type stated wherein the application of thecompressed air, paint, water, blasting sand, or other substance to thebelt-fed articles will be effected through the medium of a novellydesigned nozzle including a rapidly rotating cross head mounted upon ahollow shaft of an electric motor, which hollow shaft serves as apassage for the pressure fluid.

Another object of importance is to provide a machine as describedwherein the surface conditioning of the articles fed through saidmachine will take place in a completely enclosed space, thereby toeliminate possible injury to nearby workers, while at the same time.confining the material supplied to the articles to an enclosed area, tofacilitate reuse of said materials.

Another object of importance is to provide, in the apparatus notedabove, an. exhaust means for the compressed air, which exhaust meanswill be so arranged as to act upon the blast that is directed againstthe articles, after said blast has been fully exhausted against thesurfaces of the articles.

Still another object of importance is to provide apparatus as describedwhich will be relatively inexpensive considering the benefits to beobtained from the use thereof, and which will at the same time beparticularly designed to assure the uniform, rapid conditioning of thesurfaces of the articles.

Other objects will, appear from the following description, the claimsappended thereto, and: from the annexed drawings, in which likereference characters designate like parts throughout the several views,and wherein:

Figure l is a view of an apparatus formed in accordance with the presentinvention, said apparatus being shown partly in side elevation andpartly in longitudinal section;

Figure 2 is atop plan view in which a portion is broken away;

Figure 3 is a transverse sectional view taken substantially on line 33of Figure 1;

Figure 4 is an enlarged sectional. view, in which parts remain inelevation and other parts are broken away, through the electricallypowered nozzle assembly of the device; and

Figure 5 is. a greatly enlarged transverse sectional view through thecross head of the nozzle assembly, taken on line 5-5 of Figure 4..

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Referring to the drawings in detail, the reference numeral has beenapplied generally to a box frame of rectangular outline, said box framebeing formed throughout of angle iron or other conventional stock.

Thus, the box frame 1'0 is formed with parallel, longitudinallyextending base members 12, welded or otherwise made rigid at their endswith transversely disposed end members 14.

Corner posts or standards 16 are fixedly secured, at their lower ends,to the longitudinal and end members 12, 14, at the corners of the boxframe, said posts 16 extending upwardly substantial distances as will bereadily apparent from Figure 1.

To brace the frame longitudinally thereof at the upper ends of the posts16, longitudinal brace members 18 are provided, said brace members beingwelded or otherwise fixedly secured at their opposite ends to therespective corner posts 16, at each side of the box frame.

The frame is adapted to support a hollow housing for the conveyor andnozzle assemblies, within which housing the articles can be coated,blasted, or otherwise conditioned. To this end, the hollow housingincludes a side wall 20, at one side of the frame, said side wall 20being vertically disposed and being spaced transversely of the framefrom a side wall 21 that is disposed at the opposite side of the frame.Side walls 20, 21 cooperate to define, therebetween, anarticle-conditioning chamber 22.

It is desirable that the chamber 22, at the lower end thereof, betapered, for a purpose to be made presently apparent, and to this end, abottom wall is provided in the housing, said bottom wall being formed ofdownwardly converging bottom wall portions 24 (Figure 1). The side wall20, at its lower edge, is integral with a transversely inclined sidewall extension 26 (Figure 3). It is tov be noted that the inclination ofthe bottom wall portions 24, and the inclination of the side wallextension 26, cause the chamber 22 to be progressively reduced inrespect to the cross sectional area thereof, in the direction of thelower end of said chamber. At the same time, the lower end of thechamber is caused to be located at one side of the frame, forconvenience in exhausting the air' and unused material in. the chamberthrough a blower 28.

Conveyor means is provided in the housing, and can be of any desiredtype, as for example, an endless belt or webbing, a, cleated chain, or aseries of power-driven rollers. In the illustrated example of theinvention, rollers are shown by way of illustration, a series of saidrollers being arranged longitudinally of the housing from end to endthereof, withthe rollers 36 of said series extending transversely of thehousing. The rollers 30 are adapted to receive articles entering thehousing through an inlet chute 32 provided at one end of said housing.The articles, after being carried through the length of the apparatus bythe rollers 30, are discharged through an outlet chute 34.

The several rollers 30 are rotatably journaled on the upper longitudinalbraces 13 of the frame (Figure 3), bearing brackets 36 being used toprovide for the desired rotatable mounting of the rollers. A drive motor38 is mounted upon the side wall 21 of the housing, and is adapted todrive the blower 28 by means of a belt 40. The belt 40 is trained abouta drive pulley carried by the shaft of motor 38, and is also trainedabout a larger pulley 41 carried by the shaft of the blower 28. Theblower is rotated in a direction to exhaust air from within the chamber22.

A second drive pulley on the motor 33 has a belt 42 trained thereabout,said belt 42 being also trained about a driven pulley 44 mounted uponthe shaft of one of the rollers 30. Said roller has a driving connectionto the remaining rollers of the series, and to this end, a sprocket 48is carried by the roller to which rotation is transmitted by means ofbelt 42 and pulley 44. The sprocket 48 has a chain 46 engaged therewith,said chain being of the endless type and being in mesh with othersprockets 43 carried by the shafts of the remaining rollers 30. Atselected locations, idler sprockets 49 are in engagement with the topflight of the chain, to keep the chain firmly connected with the rollersalong said top flight.

In this way, when the motor 38 is operated, the exhaust blower or fan 28is placed into operation, and at the same time, the several rollers willbe driven for the purpose of feeding the articles to be conditionedlongitudinally of the housing.

Reference should now be had to Figure 4, wherein there is shown thenozzle assembly of the apparatus. As will be noted, the housing isprovided with a sheet metal top wall 56, which can be reinforced bycrossing angle iron brace members 58, 60 respectively. An invertedcupshaped housing 62 is mounted centrally upon the top wall 56 of thehousing, and is flanged at its lower end for facilitating the fixedconnection of said housing 62 to the top wall 56.

A conventional electric motor 64 is mounted within the motor housing 62,and secured to the upper end of said motor housing is a shaft housingsleeve 66. Sleeve 66 is formed with a peripheral flange at one end, saidperipheral flange being designated by the reference numeral 68 and beingwelded or otherwise fixedly connected to the adjacent end wall of themotor housing 62.

An axial bore 70 is formed in the sleeve 66, and adjacent one end ofsaid axial bore, there is formed an inwardly directed, circumferentialrib 72, said rib providing a stop for a gasket or packing ring 74.

A shaft 76 is journaled in the sleeve 66, and has one end sealablyengaged by the packing ring 74. Shaft 76 is hollow from end to endthereof, and as will be noted, said shaft is extended for substantiallythe full length of the sleeve 66.

The shaft 76 is extended through an opening 78 formed in the motorhousing 72 in registration with the axial bore 70 of sleeve 76. Withinthe motor housing 62, the shaft 76 extends through the motor 64. In thisconnection, the shaft 76 is the motor shaft, and therefore, when themotor is energized, rotation will be transmitted directly to the shaft76.

As will be seen from Figure 4, the shaft 76 has an axial bore 80extending from end to end thereof, said bore opening, at one end of theshaft, into a transversely disposed sleeve or T 82. Connected to the T82, and extending in opposite directions therefrom, are tubular members84 which cooperate to define a cross head on the shaft 76.

Spaced apart, from end to end of the cross head, are small spray nozzles86 (Figure The spray nozzles are so spaced as to keep the concentrationor pressure of the air, water, or other fluid constant. I may, in thisconnection, vary the size of the spray outlets as another means forkeeping said concentration constant from end to end of the cross head.Either the spacing variation, or the outlet size variation, may be usedindividually for this purpose. Or, if desired, both can be used incombination.

The spray nozzles are of the removable type and are threadedly engagedin suitable, complementarily threaded openings formed in the cross head.The openings of the spray nozzles 86 are preferably tapered, thus tocause any material forced under pressure through said nozzles to bebroken up into exceedingly fine droplets, thereby to coat the articlespassing therebelow in a uniform fashion.

At its opposite ends, the cross head is closed by caps 88 or equivalentmeans.

Means is embodied in the invention for directing fluid under pressureinto that end of the shaft 76 remote from the cross head. To this end,the sleeve 66 has a tapered, threaded opening 90 receiving acomplementarily formed connecting fitting 92, to which is attached oneend of a flexible hose 94. Hose 94 would extend from a compressor or thelike, not shown, for the purpose of causing fluid under pressure to beforced through the hose. Said fluid under pressure might be paint,water, or air, or air charged with particles of sand.

in use of the device, the motors 38, 64 are placed in operation, and asa result, the exhaust fan will be driven simultaneously with therotation of the conveyor rollers 30 and rotation of cross head 84.

Compressed air or the like may now be forced through the hose 94, and itwill be readily observed that the cross head 84, rotating at high speed,will receive the air under pressure, and will cause said air to bedischarged through the nozzles 86. The articles will be uniformlycoated, since the cross head is rotating at very high speed, and iseffecting the discharge of the article-conditioning material through acircular area throughout which uniform application of the conditioningmaterial is assured.

It is also thought to be of importance that the rate at which compressedair is forced through the shaft 76 need not necessarily bear anyrelationship to the rate of speed with which the cross head 84 isrotated.

Thus, the user can, if he so desires, reduce the pressure with which airis forced out of the nozzles 86, while at the same time retaining thevelocity at which the cross head 84 is being rotated. Or, if the user sodesires, the pressure rate might be stepped up, simultaneously with thereduction in the speed of rotation of the cross head. Thesecharacteristics are of importance, since it provides for a more accuratecontrol of the conditioning of the articles passing below the nozzleassembly, than has heretofore been possible.

Further, the invention is so designed as to cause the exhaust fan 28 todraw out of the chamber the expanded air, after said air has passedbeyond the conveyor-supported articles. The air may, in many instances,be charged with paint, sand, or the like, and said paint or sand is ineffect funneled into the exhaust fan by reason of the particularformation of the lower end of the chamber 22. The sand can, accordingly,be reused if desired, and the paint may similarly be adapted for reuse,it being understood that the fan 28 can discharge into a suitableconduit or container.

Additionally, it is believed that the device constituting the presentinvention is comparatively simple in construction, thereby to permit itsmanufacture at relatively low cost, considering the benefits to beobtained from the use thereof. The article conditioning meansillustrated is of general utility, and thus the same apparatus can beused for painting, sand-blasting, and any of various other operations.

It is believed apparent that the invention is not necessarily confinedto the specific use or uses thereof described above, since it may beutilized for any purpose to which it may be suited. Nor is the inventionto be necessarily limited to the specific construction illustrated anddescribed, since such construction is only intended to be illustrativeof the principles of operation and the means presently devised to carryout said principles, it being considered that the invention comprehendsany minor change in construction that may be permitted within the scopeof the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. Apparatus of the class described comprising: a hollow housingdefining an article-conditioning chamber; conveyor means extendingwithin said housing adjacent the top wall of the housing; and a nozzleassembly mounted upon said top wall of the housing above the conveyormeans, said nozzle assembly including a motor housing upon the upper endof the first named housing, a motor mounted in said motor housing, ahollow motor shaft carried by said motor and having its opposite endprojecting above and below the motor housing, the upper projecting endof said shaft being connectible to a source of fluid under pressure, anda crosshead connected to the 5 lower projecting end of the shaft incommunication with said shaft, said cross head being rotated by theshaft and being provided throughout its length with a series of spacednozzles through which said fluid under pressure is directed againstarticles passing under the nozzle assembly.

2. Apparatus of the class described comprising a hollow housing definingan article-conditioning chamber; conveyor means extending within saidhousing adjacent the upper end of the housing; and a nozzle assemblymounted upon said upper end of the housing above the conveyor means,said nozzle assembly including a motor housing mounted upon the upperend of the first-named housing, a motor mounted in said motor housing, ahollow motor shaft carried by said motor and having its opposite endsprojecting above and below the motor housing, a sleeve mounted upon themotor housing and in which the upper end of the motor shaft isjournaled, said sleeve having means for connecting a pressure hosethereto, in communication with the interior of the motor 6 shaft, and across head carried by the lower end of the motor shaft to rotatetherewith, said cross head including a longitudinal series of spacedspray nozzles arranged to direct pressure fluid against articles carriedby said conveyor means.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS457,674 Simmons Aug. 11, 1891 1,130,861 Tinsley Mar. 9, 1915 1,412,979Sundh Apr. 18, 1922 1,748,224 Hinde Feb. 25, 1930 1,802,587 TovenderApr. 28, 1931 2,207,002 Doeg July 9, 1940 2,213,489 Durand Sept. 3,19402,214,188 Walker Sept. 10, 1940 2,218,686 Showers Oct. 22, 19402,369,737 Jackson et a1. Feb. 20, 1945 2,678,845 Fitter May 18, 1954

